Power of your Actions
by awesome purple monkey
Summary: It was an ordinary Friday for Bella Swan. Never would she have imagined how crucial that day was to her and Edward Cullen.


So, for anyone who has read my other works, I'm Back!! I know i'm a horrible updater, and for any one who cares, i'm sorry. I got inspired by a chain email I got about two months ago. I loosely followed the email's story and made it my own sappy love story. Ha!

I have been working on my Sly Cooper story, but unfortunately, when I was halfway done with the second chapter I realized I wanted to go in a completely different direction with it. So, keep an eye out for that update, though i'm not promising any quick results. School's really hectic right now and i'm stressed out.

But anyways, I hope you like this pile of romantic mush. ;) So please review! I want to hear how bad or good it is. So tell me your honest opinion.

Oh! and I almost forgot! I absolutely do not own Twilight or any such things. I simply read the books and have written a sappy fanfiction based on Stephenie's awesome characters.

**Power of your Actions**

I woke up that morning just like any other day. Since it was a Friday, my favorite day of the week, me and my best friends Jasper and Rosalie, were going to hang out after school. We had a Friday tradition that no one else was allowed to partake in. We would rent a bunch of movies, ranging from comedy to action and even cheesy romances, which Jasper hated. I admit sometimes Rose and I overdid it with the romances on purpose. We would pig out on all different kinds of junk imaginable and sit back enjoying the movie, except for Jasper's occasional cringing during romances.

Rosalie and Jasper are brother and sister, twins to be exact. They both share blonde hair and blue eyes. I'm rather plain in comparison, but I've grown used to it.

That's all I looked forward to on that fateful Friday my freshman year in High school. I'd been a freshman for about four months and I had already adjusted to it. High school wasn't too bad if you had friends like Rose and Jazz.

To say the least, that Friday changed my life. I would always remember that day and cherish it. I thought I was being kind to someone unfortunate, at the time, I had no idea what an understatement that was.

School had just ended for the day, and Jasper and Rose went home to set everything up since we had already rented our choices for that Friday. I only lived a couple blocks away from Rose and Jazz, so I was quickly walking home to drop my things off. Trouble is that in Forks, Washington, no matter how fast you try to walk, the rain always catches up to you.

I opened up my trusty umbrella, it had been through some tough storms with me, and continued on to my house. Along my walk, I noticed someone else walking home on the opposite side of the street. Upon further scrutiny, I noted that he was a kid from one of my classes.

His name was Edward.

From what I could tell, it looked like he was carrying all of his books. The idea was ridiculous to me, who would want to bring their entire books home on a Friday night? Especially since it didn't allow him to carry an umbrella, he was completely unprotected. Then again, Edward Cullen was known to be a bit of a nerd.

I was excited to get my weekend started, even though I knew exactly what I would do, every Friday it was still a blast. With thoughts of my best friends and movies in my head, I trudged on without another glance.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids heading his way. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the grass. His glasses went flying and fell about ten feet away from him on the soggy wet grass. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes that just about broke my heart.

How could anyone be so cruel? My heart went out to him, so I jogged over to his side of the street and retrieved his glasses for him, cleaning them up. While he was gathering his books together before he noticed me, I saw a tear in his eye.

When he saw he was not alone, he hastily wiped his face trying to make it seem as if he hadn't been near tears and just had some rain drops on his face. As I bent down on my knees and handed him his glasses back, I said, "Those guys are jerks." _They really should get lives,_ I added to myself.

He looked at me with his beautiful emerald eyes and said, "Thank you." He gave me an amazing heart breaking crooked smile that I had never seen grace his face before. It could light up a room. I felt myself blush and mentally berated myself. Only I would blush at two simple words of gratitude and a cute smile. Though, I had to admit, coming from Edward's mouth they just sounded so much better.

He ran a hand through his crazy bronze hair, which always made him stick out like a sore thumb. He had such beautiful features that I found myself envying him. _He would make a better girl than me! _I continued with my silly musings.

When I finally remembered how to function, I helped him pick up his books and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he didn't live too far from me, so I asked him why I hadn't seen him around before this school year. Apparently, he had gone to a private school before this. That tid bit of information was unsurprisingly not surprising, if that even makes sense. Edward was a genius, everyone knew.

Sometimes I'd watch him work in my math class. He was always so focused and prepared. The teacher never bothered picking on him because even when Edward didn't look like he was paying attention, he was paying attention. He could never be caught off guard.

At first, I thought maybe math was just his thing. He later proved that school in general was his thing. He was top student in all his classes. Teachers praised him every chance they got, whether he was in that class or in another period of the same class.

He was adorable, in his own cute way. He always carried this huge backpack with him that I swore could fit a circus. He would also always be adjusting his glasses on his nose when they would slide down. It was an endearing habit of his.

One day in math class, which coincidentally Rose shared with me, she noticed me staring at him. She teased me relentlessly after that day, insisting that I loved nerds because I was one myself. I was always one of the smartest kids in class. She even went as far as buying me a t-shirt that said, "I 'heart' nerds". Jasper was nicer about the whole situation, though he couldn't help but throw some playful jabs at me every now and then.

To finally get the opportunity to talk to him was great. I was too much of a coward to actually approach him myself without a good excuse. So the turn of events was rather nice I thought, well except for Edward being bullied of course. The circumstances could have been better.

We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books for him. I had to insist before he finally let me carry some. Even then, I was only allowed to carry two out of his seven.

Edward turned out to be a really sweet guy, as I suspected. And charming as well as funny too. The whole walk home he either had me laughing or listening intently to everything he said. He was an extremely interesting person. I soon realized I had never met anyone like him before. Unwilling to let go of his company just yet, I decided to take a chance and break a sacred rule between me and my best friends.

"Hey Edward, would you like to hang out and watch movies with me and my friends?" I timidly asked him, biting on my lower lip. For some unfathomable reason, I was really nervous. What if he said no?

He said yes.

Rose and Jazz's eyes almost bugged out of their faces when I showed up on the doorstep to their house with nerdy Edward Cullen sharing my umbrella. They let us in and I properly introduced Edward to Rose and Jazz, though more for his benefit than theirs. They knew exactly who he was.

We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Edward, the more I liked him. Jazz and Rose agreed, which I was grateful for.

When Monday rolled around, I entered the school with Rose and Jazz to find Edward with his huge stack of books again. I said my quick goodbye to my friends and walked over to help the poor guy out before they all dropped to the floor.

"Holy crow, you are gonna build some serious muscles hauling these books around every day." He just laughed and handed me two of his books.

It was sophomore year, and I was doing some serious cramming at the library. I'd unwillingly cancelled on Rose and Jazz this Friday, as well as Edward who now partook in our tradition. I couldn't tear my eyes from my math book, I had to understand this formula for the final benchmark or I'd be upset with myself.

I heard someone approach my table and pull out a chair directly across from me. I didn't need to look up to know who it was. The person's next comment confirmed my suspicions.

"You really are a worry wart, you know that?" His soft velvety voice reached my ears and it was like instant relief to have him around.

I looked him straight in the eyes and replied, "Excuse me, Mr. Cullen, we can't all be geniuses." I heard him snicker as I tried to wrap my head around math.

"I still don't get why you won't let me tutor you myself, you know I'm great at math." _Yeah, and at every other subject as well. _

The truth was that I knew Edward as my tutor wouldn't be a good idea at all. Shortly after befriending him last year, I got a huge crush on Edward. I had always admired him from afar but I never actually had my thoughts constantly consumed by him as I do now. When it was just the two of us, it was extremely hard to concentrate. He didn't actually think I would be able to learn with only him around me, did he? Then again, as far as I knew, he was completely clueless about my crush on him.

Rose told me every day that I should just go for it. She insisted that Edward had the same crush on me that I had on him, but I wasn't convinced.

"Don't worry about me Edward, I'll do just fine." I responded to his earlier statement.

"I know you will," He replied, "I'm just curious, that's all. Is being alone with me really that scary?" He flashed me the very same smile he had given me last year. The one that made my heart skip a beat. _Gosh, corny much Bella?_

"Yes, it's terrifying." I said with a straight face. Then we both proceeded to laugh at our antics. It didn't last long thanks to the librarian with her infamous shh-ing. Seriously, it gets old.

I realized I was only half joking, the idea of being with Edward alone was somewhat terrifying, but only because I wasn't sure I could control myself.

"Come on Bella, if we go to my house now we can still have that movie night." He had a hopeful expression and continued. "Rose and Jasper are already over there wit-"

"Let me guess, Alice and Emmett." I interrupted him.

Alice and Emmett were Edward's siblings. Alice was Edward's older sister by two minutes. They were fraternal twins, so now I had two sets of twins in my life. I loved them though. Emmett was currently a junior in High school, a year older than the rest of us, which Rosalie only found more attractive. Apparently, older boys are more mature. Her logic would have made sense if we weren't still in High school were boys are still immature.

The two had met at school one day accidently when Emmett had bumped into her the beginning of our sophomore year. The moment those two looked each other in the eyes it was love at first sight, or at least that's what Rose claimed the night she gave me all the details. Imagine our shock when we finally visited Edward at his house and found out Emmett was in fact Edward's older brother.

This leads me to Jasper and Alice, whose first encounter I actually witnessed. Edward let us in and introduced us all to his family. There I met two of the kindest adults, Esme and Carlisle. They were fantastic to me from day one, always courteous and I instantly felt like part of the family.

When Edward got to Alice, Jasper had long ago noticed her. It was a funny thing to watch, and yet it felt too personal to look at. They were locked in a staring contest, and yet the purpose wasn't to win. It was as if they were staring into each other's souls. Needless to say, after that day everyone was paired off except for me and Edward. The thought kind of made me sad, because I wanted us to be a couple.

"However did you guess?" Edward playfully joked.

"Must have been them always sucking face." I heard him laugh quietly to himself.

We walked outside where he picked up his bike and got seated. I hopped on the little pedals on the back that allowed me to just hold on and make him do all the work. Once Edward was sure I had a good grip on his shoulders, he took off toward his house.

That night was just pure fun with all of us hyper and cracking up at Emmett's impersonation of Heath Ledger as the Joker in "The Dark Knight".

The lovebirds had sat with their others on the carpet which left me and Edward sharing the sofa. I didn't mind one bit. Edward had wrapped his arms around me and I was cozy lying against his chest. The afghan that usually rested on the couch had been pulled down to cover us, and with my ear pressed against Edward's chest and watching the movie, I was in pure bliss.

I noticed that his heart was beating a little too fast. _Hmm, must be really into the movie._

The clock on the wall read six o'clock p.m. _Thank god_ I thought as I realized my shift at Newton's Sports store was finally over. It was a Saturday of my junior year and I had gotten myself a job. I figured I could use some money for college, which would be coming up soon. My Dad Charlie had surprised me with a rusty red truck that used to belong to an old family friend. It doesn't sound very appealing, but I loved the old rust bucket. Apparently I was the only one.

Rose was too embarrassed and grossed out to even consider riding in my car with me. Alice could tolerate it better, though I could tell she didn't quite enjoy it either. We always took one of their cars when just us girls went shopping.

Jasper and Emmett frankly didn't give a damn about what other people thought, but they sure enjoyed making fun of my car every second they got. I had to constantly remind them that she was their senior and deserved a little more respect. That only encouraged them further.

And Edward. Sweet, caring, sexy and gorgeous Edward. Well, he wasn't that much better than his brother and Jazz. He'd crack jokes less often, but he made up for that when he'd drop subtle hints that I should buy another car.

He was convinced that it wasn't safe to drive. He wouldn't let me drive to work in it. So now, I was waiting outside for him to come pick me up, just like he had dropped me off. I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally spotted Edward in his stupid shiny silver Volvo. He thought he was so cool just because he had a fancy car. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at it.

Over the two years I had known Edward, he had really grown. What I mean is, he had lost his timid exterior and now carried himself with confidence and grace. He was always taller than me, but now he reached six freaking feet. He was six foot two to be exact. His hair still looked pretty much the same; he was constantly running his hands through it.

He had replaced his dorky glasses with contacts, so now his beautiful green orbs were always in good view. If I'm being honest, though I loved looking directly into his eyes, sometimes I missed his glasses. I still remembered his cute little habit of readjusting them.

As I walked toward his car and got in, I noticed he was wearing a green plaid button up shirt that made his eyes stick out more than usual with some casual jeans. He had the long sleeves rolled up to his elbows, exposing his forearms.

His lack of glasses and grown confidence weren't the only changes. Remember when I jokingly said he'd get a ton of muscles thanks to those books? Well he got muscles all right. He had a strong chest and well defined arms. He wasn't bulky like Emmett, but he had muscle and it showed. Edward was truly gorgeous.

"Hello, Isabella? Woo Hoo! Anyone home?" I snapped out of my staring and raised my eyes to his with a blush.

Edward had been waving his hand in front of my face trying to catch my attention. If only he knew how often he was the focus of my attention. Rose knew, even Alice knew. Hell, who was I kidding? They all knew.

"Yeah, sorry Edward. Just distracted I guess." I lied trying to cover my blatant staring up, though honestly, it was hardly a lie. Edward was extremely distracting. Edward knew when I was lying; I could tell he knew now by the look on his face. I was grateful he let it drop and drove us to his house.

Edward was one of my best friends. He and his siblings had become a part of Jasper, Rose and I quickly. We all fit, like the pieces of a puzzle. Everything just fell into place, and we were all best friends. Tonight, my best friends had convinced Edward and me to go to Jessica Stanley's party. We were the only ones who originally refused to go.

I didn't understand why he wouldn't want to go. She loved him, everyone did. Edward had gone from nerd to super genius most popular hottie in school. When they finally convinced me, Edward gave in too.

So here I was, in Alice's room changing into "party clothes". Alice had arranged my outfit for tonight, and Rose was assigned hair and makeup duties.

When it was just me and Rose, she'd help me with all the girly things. I could tell Rose really enjoyed having another girl who understood the importance of planning hours ahead what to wear. We were missing Alice in our girl bonding all this time; it was great to finally have her.

Alice had great taste in clothing, so good in fact that she wanted to be a clothing designer. With that said, the idea of me doubting her seems silly, right? Except, when I looked down at the outfit lying on her bed, nothing was funny at the moment, except maybe the idea that Alice thought she could get me to wear this.

There was nothing wrong with it, it just wasn't my style. She had laid out a mini skirt with an overly girly shirt that just wasn't me. On top of that, she thought high heels would go great with the ensemble. No way in hell, there was no way.

"Alice, I'm not wearing this." I said in a firm voice trying to demonstrate that I meant business. Rose watched on with a smirk on her beautiful face, she had gone through this enough times with me to know I was too stubborn to budge.

"Why not Bella? It would look great on you! Despite what you think, showing some skin every now and then isn't so horrible." She looked at me with a raised eyebrow, challenging me.

"Sorry, I'm not changing my mind. There's no way in hell I'm wearing that. Besides, this is Forks Alice, not California. It's freaking cold out there!" I said with a point in the direction of her bedroom window.

"Just give up Alice. Trust me when I say I've been down this road with Bella and it leads nowhere. You know what I'm talking about; you've seen how she is during our shopping trips." Rose tried to hurry us along; she knew Alice's efforts were futile.

Alice wasn't giving up without a bit more fight. She jutted out her lower lip in a cute puppy dog face pout. Her eyes looked so sad and pleading. I almost, **almost**, gave in. Oh, she was good. Sorry Alice, not good enough. I wasn't embarrassing myself in an outfit like that.

I crossed my arms over my chest and shook my head no. I wouldn't budge.

"Absolutely nowhere." I heard Rose mumble to herself. I caught it and couldn't help but smirk proudly at not being convinced.

After releasing a deep somewhat aggravated sigh, Alice looked at me and said, "I knew you'd never actually have the guts to wear the outfit. I'm always prepared, so I had plan B ready just in case." She responded in a cool voice that sounded smug. Huh, somehow she always ended up winning in her own way.

Alice walked over to her closet and retrieved hangers with my new outfit and a black box. I took the clothes off the hangers carefully and got a good look at it.

"Well? Am I a genius or what?" Alice boasted proudly, and with good reason. I loved it.

The outfit wasn't too over the top, a nice party casual. It consisted of a comfy looking grey sweater that had a loose fitting high collar to protect from the cold but also effectively adding a stylish edge to it. The sweater had diamond shapes running vertically down it except for the end of the sleeves, ends of the sweater and the collar covering my throat. Those parts were a solid grey, very snug. The sweater was paired with blue jeans (thank god) that had white stripes running across the top, below the stripes it grew lighter and the lightness stopped at about the knees. Alice picked boots to finish it off. Cute grey boots that were just below my knees with unfortunately some heel. Though, it could have been worse. All in all, I really loved it.

"Alice, what you are is a miracle worker." I complimented her happily.

"Yeah, I know." She was so smug, I loved her.

"Hey! I never got those compliments from you! What about all the hard work Rosalie put into making you beautiful?" Rose looked outraged but her lips were twitching, so I knew she was mostly joking.

"You were too busy complimenting yourself to let me put a good word in!" I told her before my laugh took over. We all ended up in giggles and Rose gave me a huge hug which we pulled Alice into.

I quickly got changed into my outfit for the night and Rose got to work on my hair. Alice and Rose went over what would look best while I sat there and hoped this wouldn't take too long.

By the end of the whole process, I had nice curls with my hair down my shoulders. They hadn't over done it with the makeup, which I was thankful for. They had used some mascara and slight eyeliner and finished it off with lip gloss.

When they finally let me get up to look in the mirror, I actually felt beautiful. Rose had always done an excellent job, but something about adding Alice's touch made it that much better.

"You are ready for some partying!" Alice excitedly shouted to which Rose "whooped" to.

Alice and Rose were quick to get ready, which made me wonder why they took so long with me.

They looked amazing of course.

Once we were all ready, we left in Emmett's huge jeep. The only car that could fit all of us.

I wasn't usually into going to parties, as boring as that might sound. I enjoyed hanging out with my friends and going places sure, but dressing up for a teenage party? Not as appealing.

I always felt a little different, and Edward did too. Which is why I think we fit together so perfectly, he understood me. With him being a lonely nerd and me secretly a quiet, shy nerd, we made quite the pair.

Everyone had already dispersed to have a good time. Jessica had a pool table and Emmett and Jasper were really enjoying themselves. I could see Rose and Alice conversing with other kids at the party, laughing and having a good time.

I sat on a couch drinking a soda, bored out of my mind. That's when I felt someone sit next to me.

"Enjoying yourself? 'Cause I'm not." I heard Edward's velvet like voice say to my right.

"That makes two of us. Remind me again why we're here?" I inquired while turning to face him.

God, he was gorgeous. He was looking at me with a bright smile, he certainly didn't _look_ bored.

"We're here because you cracked under the pressure." He smirked at me waiting for my witty comeback.

"Did not!" Ok, so maybe it wasn't all that witty.

"Sure did." He replied to my childish remark with a smug grin.

"Ok, so maybe I gave in after they moved on from pestering to threats. You know you would have broke too if they had threatened your precious piano." Ha! I had him there, and he knew it. I took a sip of my almost finished soda, waiting for his response.

"You got me. I'm actually glad they threatened you first, otherwise _I'd_ be the reason we're here. I wouldn't want to be responsible for that." What he said caused me to laugh and playfully smack his arm.

"By the way, where's the hostess? Shouldn't she be drooling on you right now?" I teased him, knowing he hated all the attention the females at our school gave him, especially Jessica. Even _I _had to admit she was annoying, and she wasn't even flirting with me constantly like she was with poor Edward.

He cringed and said, "I lost her in the crowd, of course all the alcohol in her system helped. I never thought I'd be so grateful for beer." He grinned at me, pleased with himself.

"Aww, poor Jess. Why would you abandon her like that? You know she's totally in love with you right?" I continued to tease him, but his next words took me by surprise.

He let out a snort and somewhat angrily said, "No she doesn't. No one at our school ever really truly cared for me. You were the only one who ever showed some humanity towards me. You liked me before this whole, 'Edward Cullen is so smart and cool' bullshit. Only you." He stared straight into my eyes, almost as if he was searching for something.

I was surprised not only at his _tone _but also just at what he'd said. I had never heard Edward curse before. It sounded strange to hear his lovely voice say something like that. What did he mean by 'only you'? And why was he still looking deeply into my eyes...searching.

I could stare at him all day. I usually tended to get lost in his emerald orbs, and I realized it had happened again. I could not, for the life of me, look away.

It wasn't until some drunk kid stumbled into me that I realized Edward and I had inched closer to each other. Like gravity demanded we sit closer. I almost bumped my head with Edwards, that's how close we were.

He finally broke the silence with a soft and sweet, "You're so beautiful."

I blushed, what else could I do?

When it started to get out of control, we all decided it best to leave before any cops showed up.

That definitely wouldn't be good for _me. _

That night I lay in bed, replaying Edward's confusing and conflicting words. _Only you…_

We were near the end of our senior year, and everyone was buzzing with excitement. It's time for us to spread our wings and fly, or whatever they're all going on about. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit excited. I'd been accepted into a couple colleges already, but the letter I was waiting for the most had come just the other day. I was ecstatic to receive my acceptance letter.

Alice and Rose were just about ready to explode with excitement that we were graduating. Of course, they were buying yearbooks and class rings and had insisted we all go to prom. Edward had been my date, no surprise. I didn't mind, I loved it. No surprise.

We all agreed on getting class rings, that's the one thing I did actually want. We were all getting the same color stone on our rings so we'd be matching. Alice had insisted that we never take them off after graduation, which we all gave into.

Emmett had graduated the year before, but that didn't stop her from making him order the same color we had now gotten. It was a nice light blue, we all liked it.

He had started college already, and Rose was excited because she had gotten her acceptance letter to her college that wasn't very far from Emmett's. Rose isn't the clingy type, she just really loved him. It also helps that Emmett and Rose had wanted to attend colleges that were close to each other.

He was coming to our graduation with his parents and would probably tease us relentlessly. Well, maybe not Rose, she always kept him in line. Not to mention he was wrapped around her beautifully manicured pinky.

We had one week left, and it seemed no one could focus on class. Even I, sitting here thinking about the beginning of my high school career and how I'd finally reached the end of it. So much had changed since freshman year. I had made even more friends and I knew we'd be friends for life.

Of course, there was one thing that still hadn't changed. My relationship status. Edward and I had never gotten together, even though I could feel the connection we had, as well as the sexual tension. I knew he did too. So what was he waiting for? What terrified me the most was the idea of going our separate ways and not seeing him every day.

After school, we all headed over to the Cullen house. Edward had given me a ride to school so I found his car in the parking lot and he was already there waiting in the driver's seat.

"Take your time, unless you want to hurry to my house so we can start helping Alice plan her graduation party." He said with a humorous glint in his eye, knowing I'd be in no rush.

So in slow motion, I reached for his door handle, causing him to laugh and roll his eyes.

"Bella, just get in already." He said with laughter still in his voice.

I acquiesced and slid into his still stupid shiny Volvo. I might have shut the door with a bit more force than necessary.

At the Cullen house everyone was already home, working on planning the party in their living room. Well Rose and Alice were anyways, Jasper was lounging on the couch.

"About time Edward! I thought you had kidnapped her." Alice exclaimed, I could have sworn I heard Jasper mutter 'He wishes'.

Edward must have heard it too, since he was now glaring at Jasper.

"Relax Alice. We're here, aren't we?" Edward said back to her in his smooth nonchalant voice, the perfect picture of ease.

Out of all of us, I think he was the one who didn't fear her as much. It might have something to do with them being twins and all, but who knew?

Edward and I settled in and sat around watching t.v. and talking with Jasper while pretending to be brainstorming for Alice. Does that make us bad friends?

After an episode of "That 70's Show", Edward glanced at me from the corner of his eye and said, "Me and Bella are going upstairs, there's not much action going on here."

I was sure that if Emmett were here, he'd say something along the lines of, "So you guys are going upstairs to get some action? 'Bout time man!" I missed him, we all did. I couldn't wait to see the big lug on graduation day.

I followed Edward to the third floor of the Cullen house, which was huge by the way. Did I forget to mention that? Once we reached the familiar door I felt my heart speed up. I always loved spending time with Edward in this room. It was the only time I got to hear his beautiful music.

I'd found out soon after befriending Edward that he wasn't just talented school-wise. He was also a piano genius; apparently he had been playing since he was five. Was there anything the boy couldn't do? Except for finally make a move on me that is.

I stepped in after Edward and grinned widely at my familiar surroundings.

Esme loved Edward's playing just like I did, and I'm sure she's made him give her private concerts, which is why this room is occupied by Edward's beautiful piano. The room had a window to the left and there was a platform by the window where Edward's piano rested, as glorious as ever. The floors were wooden and squeaky clean. There were also paintings that Esme had painted herself hanging on the walls. She was an amazing artist and they all fit so perfectly into the room. It was a calming room; the atmosphere practically said "chill".

Edward knew how much I loved his playing, so every time I came over we'd take time out to come to this room. He'd let me sit next to him and watch his long pale fingers make beautiful sounds. What made the whole experience even better was that he composed his own music. It was beautiful to watch and listen to; I'm embarrassed to say that sometimes it compelled me to tears. Edward thought it was funny to see me cry just because he played the piano, but I suspected he really liked it when his music touched me.

He had even composed a beautiful sweet lullaby last year and told me that I had inspired it. I thought for sure that he must reciprocate my feelings, because that day Edward was kind of treating me like I was his girlfriend or something. After I had cried like a baby and thanked him, the next day it was back to normal "strictly friends Edward and Bella".

Now, I sat next to him listening to him play Clair de Lune, one of our favorites. I watched his fingers glide effortlessly over the keys. He was truly something else.

When the song came to an end, I expected him to start into another song like usual. When he didn't, I looked up at him, obviously wondering why he wasn't playing. Edward was staring at me with a nervous yet determined look on his face. I waited for him to say something and when he didn't look close to speaking, I opened my mouth to ask him what was wrong when he stopped me by placing his index finger on my lips.

"Shh, give me a moment. I've been wanting to say this for a very long time and I want to get it right the first time." I just stared at him still confused. Not for one second did I allow hope to seep into my system, that happened way too often. I was tired of disappointment.

"Bella, why did you help me? What made you want to be my friend?" Edward was staring at me with a look of sheer concentration. He looked as if he wanted to catch every single word I said next.

"Edward, how could I not help you? You needed a friend, and after talking to you, I wanted to be that friend." I answered his question sincerely still extremely confused by his sudden change of mood. What could have possibly brought this on after all this time? He had never asked me that before, as surprising as that seemed.

Edward switched his position so he was straddling his piano bench facing me, I mirrored him wanting to know where he was going with this and desperately trying to beat down the inevitable hope that was creeping up on me. For some odd reason, this time, I felt as if I wasn't going to be let down.

"That's just it; no one ever felt the need to give me a chance after talking to me for a few minutes like you did. I was always shunned and immediately labeled as the nerdy kid that only cared about his school work. All of the kids we go to school with treated me like a social pariah. And for some weird reason you were different. You were interested in what I had to say. You were sweet and attentive and just so damn cute."

I could feel my trademark blush burning into my cheeks and flushing down my neck. Edward had only ever called me cute in a joking and teasing way before, but at this moment Edward looked dead serious. He continued talking after quickly scanning my beat red face.

"Even after all this time, I'm still not sure when I fell in love with you. I'm not sure if it was when you introduced me to your friends after barely meeting me, or if it happened when you defended me every day at school since we met, or maybe it was when you asked me what I wanted to do one day for fun. The day I told you I wanted to go to the library and read a good book you didn't laugh at me or call me boring, you just smiled this huge adorable grin and got all excited. Or maybe I fell for you the exact moment I looked up and met your beautiful, soft, chocolate brown eyes and noticed you were there to help me and not tease me some more while I was already down. God, how pathetic am I? Scared that some girl was going to come and hurt me some more emotionally and maybe even physically."

By this point Edward was just letting everything spill out. I was shocked; I couldn't comprehend what was happening. He was telling me all of this with such strong conviction, and when he called himself pathetic I was even more shocked to see that his eyes had teared up. He was making wild hand gestures, talking with his expressive hands.

"But that's honestly how I was before you came into my life and changed everything. The day I met you my view of the world was warped and twisted until it was a completely new perspective, bright and happy and just so damn full of possibilities. You have made me so incredibly happy since the day I first talked to you and had an honest, easy, and care free conversation with you, someone other than my family for once."

I just sat there and gaped at Edward like an idiot. Had he honestly just told me that he loves me? That he had in fact loved me all this time? I must have fallen asleep listening to Edwards's beautiful music and was now surely in an alternate universe where my love was actually reciprocated.

"Bella, you are my everything. You have been my everything since our freshman year in high school." Edward whispered softly and reached for my hands, holding them tenderly in his. I had yet to utter a single word.

I mean, how do you react to something like this? I couldn't understand myself either though. Isn't this what I've been dreaming about? Suddenly, I wasn't only happy like I would have expected. Dreaming about it and it actually happening were completely different. When I fantasized about this happening, in my head I would leap into his arms and kiss him passionately like I'd been dying to do since at least sophomore year.

Now, all I could feel was a sinking feeling of fear settle into my stomach. It was a horrible feeling of just, terror. I couldn't stay quiet any longer. Before I had realized, I was up and pacing in front of Edward.

"Edward, you say that now, but what happens when you leave to college? What happens then?"

Edward had a confused look on his face and he also looked a little hurt that I wasn't jumping into his arms right about now.

"Bella, we both want to attend Dartmouth. I'm not leaving you. Besides, I don't think I'm capable."

Edward looked wounded and it was killing me, but this couldn't be as easy as he was making it out to be. Was everything really going to just fall into place, just like that? Maybe I was just overreacting, or in shock. Maybe I was just insecure.

"I know that, that's not what I mean." I sighed heavily. There's no way he was seriously going to stay with me, was there?

"Then what are you saying? What? You think I'm going to magically forget you, fall in love with some other girl, and move on?" Edward laughed at the idea as if it was absurd, which I admit comforted me a bit.

After I didn't say anything, confirming that's exactly what I thought, his laughter faded slowly. He just stared at me with an incredulous look on his face. Edward got up from his seat and came towards me, hugging me to him.

"Bella," he whispered softly into my ear, "Weren't you listening? I'm in love with you. There's no going back for me. You're the only girl I've ever loved and ever will love." He pulled back slightly to wipe the tears that had started falling from my face.

Edward really did love me as much as I loved him? Edward loved me. I stared up at his glorious face and into his precious emerald eyes that always cheered me up. In that moment I realized what a complete idiot I was. The boy, now man, of my dreams had confessed his undying love for me and my first reaction was to shoot down the idea immediately. God, I'm such a bitch. I figured now was the time to fix that.

"Edward, I love you too. I always have." Edward's face broke out into one of his gorgeous crooked smiles and he surprised the hell out of me when he picked me up and swung me around.

The complete and utter joy radiating from Edward was spurring on my own. Before I realized, we were both laughing out loud. I couldn't fight the overwhelming feeling anymore, especially after all the years I had to repress it. So when Edward finally slowed down and set me down, I reached up on my tip toes and kissed him. As soon as our lips met I moaned in pleasure. Not because of something sexual, but because I was finally where I had wanted to be for a long time. To be in Edward's arms and feel loved by him was indescribable. I felt Edward smile against my lips. The kiss was sweet and chaste and when we broke apart, I leaned my forehead on his. I looked into his beautiful eyes and everything was perfect.

The day of our graduation had finally come. Edward was valedictorian of our class. He had to prepare his speech and I was just glad it wasn't me up there. I would have made a complete ass out of myself if I had to go up there.

I could see that he was nervous about his speech, so I leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Don't worry Edward, you'll be fantastic, I know it."

He gave me his beautiful crooked smile and I could see Edward's love for me in his eyes.

"Thanks." He said before leaning over and kissing me quickly on my lips.

He went up when he was called and cleared his throat before starting.

"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe even a coach…but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story." As Edward continued I couldn't do anything more but stare at him with a look of disbelief.

He was telling everyone about the day we met.

He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.

He talked of how he was saving his parents the trouble of cleaning out his locker and did it himself, and that he was carrying his stuff home.

Edward looked hard at me and smiled.

"Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."

I could feel tears sliding down my cheeks. The very idea of Edward killing himself made me so unbearably sad, I couldn't fathom it. I was so glad I had such an effect on Edward to stop him. If he wasn't still alive, I didn't know what kind of life I would have now, but I knew without Edward I would never have felt such an intense love. I would never have been this happy.

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this gorgeous, popular boy told us of his weakest moment. I saw Carlisle and Esme looking at me with grateful smiles. Esme had tears in her eyes and mouthed 'thank you'.

Emmett was on her right side and had leaned over to smile and wink at me. I could see through him though, I knew Emmett too well by now. He was trying not to show it, but he too was near tears.

Alice was three rows up and had turned around to smile at me through her tears. I had a feeling that Alice knew about his intentions, maybe that was why she always acted so grateful for having me. Though something told me that Alice also just loved me for who I was.

I was positive that if I could see Jazz and Rose that they had the same incredulous and shocked looks on their faces, as I'm sure I did.

Not until that moment did I understand its depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's life. For better or for worse.

I was just glad my action was a positive one that led me to the one person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

I couldn't wait to start my adult life with Edward by my side.


End file.
